Toy power tool with swirling sawdust

ABSTRACT

A toy power tool simulates the action of sawdust or other shavings generated by action of an adult power tool. The toy has a housing with a shape that resembles the shape of an adult power tool, such as a circular saw, and a chamber, which preferably is transparent or translucent, with a plurality of particles that represent the shavings, sawdust or other waste generated by that tool contained within the chamber. The toy has a movable element that corresponds to an element of an actual adult power tool that moves when the tool is operating. When the tool is activated to drive the movable element of the toy, the element moves, rotating or translatably oscillating, for example, and thereby agitates the simulated particles to simulate the operation of an adult power tool.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to toys, and in particular toys thatsimulate power tools.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Toys generally are meant to be entertaining and to provide a practicalway for children to role play at adult activities. Toy tools, forexample, allow children to play at adult construction activities whilealso providing an opportunity for children to learn the proper manner inwhich to handle or use various tools and to learn which tools areappropriate for a particular job.

Children typically have a shorter attention span than adults, however,and more realistic toys are more likely to capture and maintain achild's attention and interest. One way to make toy tools seem morerealistic is to have them make noise when they are used: particularly anoise that is similar to the sound of an adult tool. Another way to keepa child's attention is to have moving parts to catch a child's eye. Forexample, a known push toy has a housing and a handle that generallyresemble an adult lawnmower. A chamber in the housing contains aplurality of colored balls that are visible through a transparent wall.When the toy is pushed along the ground, a ratchet winds and suddenlyreleases a plate in the bottom of the chamber, causing the balls to popinto the air. Although perhaps entertaining, adult lawnmowers lack suchballs and “popping” mechanisms, making such a toy unrealistic and thusunlikely to hold a child's attention once the novelty has worn off.

In another attempt to create a more realistic toy, U.S. Pat. No.4,295,294 discloses a push toy with a housing in the shape of a powerlawnmower body and a separate housing in the shape of a grass catcher.The grass catcher has a plurality of green plastic strips, simulatinggrass clippings, that are agitated by a rotating brush in the grasscatcher when the toy is pushed along the ground. The rotating brushcreates a cloud-like particulate suspension that is visible through atransparent portion of the grass catcher to simulate the view inside anoperating adult grass catcher. Unlike an adult lawnmower, however, whichuses a cutting blade that rotates about a generally vertical axis to cutgrass and blow or throw the grass into the grass catcher, this toylawnmower uses a brush that rotates about a horizontal axis within thegrass catcher.

In addition, both of these toys have to be pushed in order to “pop” theballs or to agitate the simulated grass clippings. If these toys are notmoving along the ground, neither toy lawn mower provides any motion thatcould provide a realistic simulation of an adult lawn mower. Whileamusing, such toys are far from realistic versions of adult power tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Unlike prior toy power tools, the present invention presents a toy powertool with a more realistic appearance, with moving parts that resemblecorresponding moving parts of an adult power tool, as well as realisticlooking “sawdust” particles that are agitated by the aforementionedmovable parts of the toy power tool. Unlike an “adult” power tool,however, a toy power tool cannot actually cut and thereby create its ownwaste particles.

The present invention provides a toy power tool that simulates a cuttingor other material removal action of an adult (non-play) power tool. Thetoy has a housing with a shape that resembles the shape of an adultpower tool, such as a circular saw, jigsaw, bandsaw, table saw, drill,router, sander, grinder, shaper, lathe, power plane, planer, mill,jointer or other power tool that generates waste particulates in use.The toy has a chamber with a plurality of particles that represent theshavings, sawdust or other waste generated by that tool. At least onewall of the chamber is transparent or translucent. A part of the toywithin the chamber is movable to agitate the waste particles. When themoving parts of the tool are set in motion, the simulated particles areagitated to simulate the appearance of an actual working power tool.Unlike the push toy lawnmower described above, the motion of theparticles in the chamber typically is independent of the motion of thetool. Moreover, the present invention makes use of moving components ofthe toy power tool that would be found on an adult tool to agitate thewaste particles, thereby providing more realism to hold a child'sattention for a longer period of time.

More particularly, an exemplary toy power tool includes a housing havinga chamber that contains a plurality of particles having the appearanceof particles typically produced by operation of an adult power tool ofthe same type as the toy power tool. A moving portion of the power toolwithin the chamber, such as a drill bit or a saw blade, acts as anagitator to agitate the particles to simulate, for example, swirlingsawdust. A wall of the chamber is at least partially transparent so thatthe agitated particles are visible while the moving portion of the toolis moving.

The present invention also provides a method of simulating operation ofan adult power tool in a toy power tool, that includes the followingsteps: agitating a plurality of particles contained within a chamberhaving a wall that is at least partially transparent, the particleshaving the appearance of particles typically produced by the operationof an adult power tool of the same type to simulate operation of a powertool, independently of movement of the chamber.

Another embodiment provided by the present invention is a toy table sawhaving a tabletop surface and a saw assembly. The saw assembly includesa housing with a chamber that contains a plurality of particles havingthe appearance of particles typically produced by operation of an adulttable saw of the same type as the toy table saw. At least a portion ofthe chamber is transparent or translucent. A simulated saw blade isrotatably mounted to extend into the chamber for agitating the particleswithin the chamber and thus to simulate operation of an adult table saw.The saw assembly is mounted such that the simulated saw blade extendsabove the tabletop surface.

The chamber can have an enlarged portion that resembles a blade guardthat extends over a distal end of the simulated saw blade, and can bespaced from the tabletop surface.

The present invention also provides such a toy table saw in combinationwith a workpiece that represents a piece of wood to be cut. Theworkpiece has two parts connected along a cut line and means forreleasably securing the parts together, such as magnets. The table sawalso can include a drive wheel that extends above the tabletop surfaceadjacent the chamber that is connected to the simulated saw blade by alinkage, such as a gear train, so that moving the workpiece over thedrive wheel causes the simulated saw blade to rotate, agitating thesimulated sawdust particles and providing a very realistic operation ofthe toy table saw.

A method of using such a toy table saw can include the following steps:(a) a simulated saw blade moving a workpiece having two parts detachablyconnected along a cut line toward a simulated saw blade as though toengage the saw blade; (b) separating the workpiece into its two partsalong the cut line to simulate cutting the workpiece with the simulatedsaw blade; and (c) agitating the particles within the blade guardchamber to simulate sawdust from a cutting operation of the simulatedsaw blade.

The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter fullydescribed and particularly pointed out in the claims, the followingdescription and annexed drawings setting forth in detail a certainillustrative embodiment of the invention, this embodiment beingindicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which theprinciples of the invention may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy cordless circular saw provided bythe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a toy table saw provided by thepresent invention, as well as a workpiece having two detachable partsfor simulating cutting the workpiece on the table saw.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a saw blade assembly from the table sawshown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the saw blade assembly shown in FIG. 3from another side with a portion of a housing thereof removed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a toy cordless drill provided by thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides a toy power tool that simulates theaction of an adult power tool of the same type, and in particular,simulates the creation of sawdust or other waste particles in the formof shavings, filings, etc., generated by a cutting or other materialremoval action of the tool, independent of movement of the tool.

An exemplary toy power tool is shown in FIG. 1 in the form of a cordlesscircular saw 10. The toy saw 10 has a housing 12 with a shape thatresembles the shape of an adult “non-play” or working circular saw. Inother words, the toy tool provided by present invention does notactually cut, unlike an adult tool. The housing 12 has a chamber 14,which preferably has a wall 16 that is at least partially transparent ortranslucent. In the illustrated embodiment the chamber 14 extendsthrough a base plate 18 portion of the housing 12, with a wall 16 of thechamber 14 above the base plate 18 being substantially transparent,while a portion 19 of the chamber 14 below the base plate 18 is opaque.The chamber 14 contains a plurality of particles 20 that represent theshavings, sawdust or other waste generated by the circular saw. Theparticles may be made of wood, or alternatively made of metal shavings,organic flakes or chips, or pieces of plastic. The particles resemble orhave the appearance of waste particles typically produced by operationof an adult circular saw of a similar type. As with such particlesproduced by an adult tool, these particles 20 preferably do not have auniform size or shape.

Mounted in the housing 12 for rotation therein is a simulated circularsaw blade 22 that rotates when the power tool 10 is activated, forexample by pulling on a trigger switch 24 such as that shown on a handleportion 26 of the illustrated toy circular saw to activate abattery-powered electric motor (not shown) which also is enclosed in thehousing. The saw blade 22 resembles the saw blade for an adult circularsaw and is movable relative to the chamber 14. The saw blade 22 isgenerally circular with a wave-like periphery that includes portions 28that resemble the teeth of a saw blade for an adult circular saw. Theseteeth 28 in fact have sufficient width to engage the particles 20 in thechamber 14 as the blade 22 rotates, thereby agitating the particleswithin the chamber to simulate the production of sawdust; sawdust which,incidentally, is created by the teeth of an adult circular saw blade asthe teeth cut into wood, for example. The teeth 28 may be wider thanother portions of the saw blade 22 to move the sawdust about the chamber14 (as shown in FIG. 4, for example, with respect to the teeth 65).

The toy circular saw 10 thus includes means for agitating the particles20 within the chamber 14 to simulate operation of an adult saw. Rotationof the saw blade 22 itself, with its peripheral teeth, acts as anagitator to effect a swirling action of the particles 20 within thechamber 14 thereby giving the appearance that the circular saw isgenerating sawdust from cutting a piece of wood, for example. Othermeans for agitating the particles can be used as well, includingblowing, striking and vibrating the particles in various ways alone orin combination. As yet another alternative, a magnet may be used toagitate magnetizable particles, such as iron filings.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 2-4, in the formof a toy table saw 50. The toy table saw 50 has a table top surface 52and a saw assembly 54 mounted to the table top surface. While theillustrated embodiment is a tabletop version, a frame with legs or acabinet can be used to support the tabletop surface at an elevatedposition. As will be further explained below, the saw assembly 54 alsoincludes a housing 56 with a chamber 60 that contains a plurality ofparticles 62 having the appearance of particles typically produced byoperation of an adult table saw of the same type as the toy table saw50. A simulated saw blade 64 with a plurality of teeth 65 is rotatablymounted in the chamber 60. This is similar to the toy circular saw shownin FIG. 1. In fact, the simulated saw blade 64 and the particles 62 canbe the same as those of the toy circular saw of FIG. 1.

The saw assembly 54 is mounted with respect to the table top surface 52such that the simulated saw blade 64 extends above the table topsurface. Note that the simulated saw blade 64 rotates about an axis thatis approximately parallel to the table top surface 52 and therefore thesaw blade 64 extends above the table top surface 52 in a direction thatis substantially perpendicular to the table top surface 52. Theillustrated table top surface 52 has a guide track 66, and a miter gauge68 is shown resting in the guide track 66 for pushing a workpiece 70across the table top surface 52 and past the simulated saw blade 64. Theillustrated workpiece 70 has two detachable pieces or parts 72, 74joined together along a cut line 76, using hook-and-loop fasteners ormagnets for example, that can be used to pretend that the workpiece 70is being cut into two pieces.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the saw assembly 54 has many of the samefeatures as the toy circular saw described above with respect to FIG. 1,although the shape of the housing in this instance is different. The sawassembly 54 has a housing 56 with a chamber 60 that contains a pluralityof particles 62, at least a portion of the chamber 60 is transparent ortranslucent, and a simulated saw blade 64 is mounted within the chamber60. The saw blade 64 acts as an agitator that agitates the particles 62within the chamber 60 to simulate operation of an adult table saw. Thesaw assembly housing 56 has mounting tabs 78 for mounting the sawassembly 54 so that an insert surface 80, similar to an insert for anadult table saw, is generally coplanar with the tabletop surface 52 whenthe saw assembly 54 is mounted to the underside of the tabletop surface52 (FIG. 2).

The saw assembly 54 also includes a motion generator, for manuallydriving the simulated saw blade 64. In the illustrated embodiment, themotion generator includes a roller 82 that protrudes from the insertsurface 80 of the saw assembly 54 near the chamber 60. While thecircular saw 10 shown in FIG. 1 employs a battery-operated electricmotor to drive its simulated saw blade, the saw assembly 54 for theillustrated table saw 50 (FIG. 2) requires no electricity to operate.The roller 82 is connected to the simulated saw blade 64 through alinkage 84, which can include a gear train or friction drive, forexample, such that rotating the roller 82 drives rotation of thesimulated saw blade 64 and thus agitation of the particles 62. Anexemplary means for engaging and rotating the roller 82 is the workpiece70 (FIG. 2) described above. Moving the workpiece over the roller 82drives rotation of the simulated saw blade 64, thereby facilitating therealistic agitation of simulated sawdust particles as the workpiecemoves to simulate engagement with the saw blade 64.

The chamber 60 within which the saw blade 64 is rotatably mounted, alsoincludes another feature not found in the toy circular saw shown inFIG.1. Specifically, in the saw assembly 54 for the table saw 50(FIG.2), the chamber 60 has an enlarged portion 90 that resembles ablade guard. This simulated blade guard 90 extends over a distal end ofthe simulated saw blade 64. The blade guard portion 90 of the chamber 60is spaced above the table top surface 52 so that the workpiece 70 canpass underneath the blade guard 90 as the workpiece 70 is moved asthough to engage the simulated saw blade 64. In fact, however, thesimulated saw blade 64 is enclosed within the chamber 60 and cannotengage the workpiece, but can only give the appearance of doing so. Theblade guard 90 may be fixed as shown, or may include a portion that aworkpiece 70 could engage to push the blade guard 90, and perhaps thesaw blade 64 as well, in an upward direction (similar to the actionprovided by an actual blade guard on an adult table saw). In such anembodiment the blade guard typically would be biased toward a loweredposition.

As shown in FIG. 5, the present invention also may be embodied in a toycordless drill 200. In this instance, the illustrated toy drill includesa housing 202 that has a chamber 204 that extends over an end of asimulated drill bit 206. Particles 208 simulating particles generated byan adult drill are contained within the chamber and are agitated byrotation of the drill bit 206 within the chamber 204. The drill bit 206has at least one peripheral groove 210 that traces a spiral path alongthe length of the bit 206. The sides of this groove 210 engage and movethe particles 208 as the drill bit 206 rotates. The housing 202 also hasa trigger switch 212, and when the trigger is squeezed, abattery-operated motor (not shown) hidden in the housing 202 isactivated to rotate the drill bit 206. In this embodiment, the simulateddrill bit 206 acts as an agitator to agitate the particles 208 containedwithin the chamber 204. This can give the appearance that the drill bit206 is engaged with a piece of wood and producing sawdust, for example.

To summarize, the present invention provides a toy power tool thatsimulates the action of sawdust or other shavings generated by action ofan adult power tool. The toy has a housing with a shape that resemblesthe shape of an adult power tool, such as a circular saw, and a chamber,which preferably has a wall that is transparent or translucent, with aplurality of particles contained within the chamber that represent thesawdust. The toy has a movable element that corresponds to an element ofan actual adult power tool that moves when the tool is operating. Whenthe tool is activated to drive the movable element of the toy, theelement moves, rotating or translatably oscillating, for example, andthereby agitates the simulated particles to simulate the operation of anadult power tool.

Naturally, the housing and simulated cutting means of the toy power toolprovided by the present invention can have other shapes to provide amore realistic play experience, but it also should be clear that the toypower tool does not have to move in order to simulate operation of acorresponding adult tool.

The toy power tool provided by the present invention also can includewith a noisemaker or a vibration generator to provide a more realisticsound and feel to the toy power tool to better simulate an adult tool.Although the invention has been shown and described with respect tocertain illustrated embodiments, equivalent alterations andmodifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon reading andunderstanding the specification and the annexed drawings. In particularregard to the various functions performed by the above describedintegers (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), theterms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe suchintegers are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to anyinteger which performs the specified function (i.e., that isfunctionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to thedisclosed structure which performs the function in the hereinillustrated embodiments of the invention. In addition, while aparticular feature of the invention may have been described above withrespect to only one of several illustrated embodiments, such a featuremay be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiment,as maybe desired and advantageous for any given or particularapplication.

1. A toy power tool, comprising a housing having a chamber that containsa plurality of particles having the appearance of particles typicallyproduced by operation of an adult power tool of the same type as the toypower tool, and means for agitating the particles within the chamber tosimulate operation of a power tool independently of movement of thepower tool.
 2. A toy power tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein thechamber has a wall that is at least partially transparent.
 3. A toypower tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein the means for agitatingincludes an element that resembles an element of the adult power tooland that moves relative to the chamber to agitate the particles.
 4. Atoy power tool as set forth in claim 3, wherein the element is rotatable5. A toy power tool as set forth in claim 4, wherein the rotatingelement resembles one of a generally circular saw blade and a drill bit.6. A toy power tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein the shape of thehousing resembles one of the following power tools: table saw, portabledrill or portable circular saw.
 7. A toy power tool as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the particles are plastic and resemble sawdust.
 8. Amethod of simulating operation of an adult power tool in a toy powertool comprising the steps of: agitating a plurality of particlescontained within a chamber having a wall that is at least partiallytransparent independently of movement of the power tool, the particleshaving the appearance of particles typically produced by the operationof an adult power tool of the same type to simulate operation of a powertool.
 9. A method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the agitating stepincludes at least one of blowing, striking and vibrating the particles.10. A method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the agitating stepincludes moving the particles in a generally circular path.
 11. A toytable saw, comprising a tabletop surface and a saw assembly, the sawassembly including a housing with a chamber that contains a plurality ofparticles having the appearance of particles typically produced byoperation of an adult table saw of the same type as the toy table saw,at least a portion of the chamber being transparent or translucent, anda simulated saw blade rotatably mounted in the housing for agitating theparticles within the chamber to simulate operation of an adult tablesaw, the saw assembly being mounted such that the simulated saw bladeextends above the tabletop surface.
 12. A toy table saw as set forth inclaim 11, wherein the chamber has an enlarged portion that resembles ablade guard that extends over a distal end of the simulated saw blade.13. A toy table saw as set forth in claim 12, wherein the blade guardportion of the chamber is spaced from the tabletop surface.
 14. A toytable saw as set forth in claim 11, wherein the simulated saw bladerotates about an axis that is generally parallel to the tabletopsurface.
 15. A toy table saw as set forth in claim 11, further includesa motion generator for manually driving the simulated saw blade toagitate the particles as the simulated saw blade rotates.
 16. A toytable saw as set forth in claim 15, wherein motion generator includes aroller that extends through the housing and a linkage connecting theroller to the simulated saw blade.
 17. A toy table saw as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the particles are plastic and resemble sawdust.
 18. Atoy table saw as set forth in claim 11, in combination with a workpiecethat represents a piece of wood to be cut, the workpiece having twoparts connected along a cut line and means for releasably securing theparts together.
 19. A toy table saw as set forth in claim 18, whereinthe means releasably securing the parts of the workpiece includesmagnets or hook-and-loop fasteners.
 20. A method of using a toy tablesaw having a table top surface with a simulated saw blade extendingabove the table top surface and a chamber representing a blade guardextending over a distal end of the simulated saw blade, the blade guardchamber containing a plurality of particles that have the appearance ofsawdust typically produced by operation of an adult table saw,comprising the steps of: moving a workpiece having two parts detachablyconnected along a cut line toward a simulated saw blade as though toengage the saw blade with the workpiece; separating the workpiece intoits two parts along the cut line to simulate cutting the workpiece withthe simulated saw blade; and agitating the particles within the bladeguard chamber to simulate a cutting operation of the simulated sawblade.